


A Baker's Dozen

by TeriH



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen, Humor, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 17:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18578734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeriH/pseuds/TeriH
Summary: Response to a 2009 VinList Friday the 13th challenge





	A Baker's Dozen

Chris Larabee walked into the conference room where the members of Team Seven sat patiently waiting. Maybe patiently was not the best term to use for this motley crew.   While Chris had been on the phone with AD Travis, Ezra had started an impromptu poker game with Vin, Buck and JD. Meanwhile Nathan thumbed through a medical journal while Josiah regaled the men with his thoughts on a recently read article in his Criminal Psychology magazine, _Criminal Propensity – Nature or Nurture._    

 

Reaching across the table Chris smiled as he nabbed the tally sheet from in front of Ezra and tucked it into his pocket.  "The ladies of the secretarial pool thank you for your contribution to their latest cause.  Agent Standish, I'll expect at matching contribution from you in the amount you have fleeced from these three."

 

"Now wait one minute, Chris.  What makes you think Ezra was wi…."  Buck's words were swiftly cut off by a withering look from Larabee.

 

"Travis is in agreement that we have enough on Roberto Cordona to close down his operation and put him away for a long time.  So it looks like the bust is on for Friday, that is if Cordona still wants to meet with your buyer, Ezra."

 

"Cordona has been pushing for this sale for weeks, he'll be there," Ezra guaranteed with a smug smile as he unconsciously shuffled the deck and began to mentally plan his part of the upcoming bust.

 

"Chris…" JD's seemed reticent, almost as if not wanting to bring the groups attention on himself.  "You sure we should do the bust _this_ Friday?  I mean…"

 

"Spit it out, JD."  Buck's reached out and playfully pounded on JD's back as if trying to dislodge a stray piece of food.

 

"Paraskevidekatriaphobia," Ezra volunteered.

 

"Gesundheit!" Buck replied.

 

"Reckon what JD is trying to say is he's a bit nervous about it being Friday the 13th," Vin explained.

 

"Well Fridays are considered unlucky and so is the number 13, so put them together and you have really bad luck," JD rationalized.

 

"Our young friend does have a point," Josiah stated.  "Christian tradition says that Jesus died on a Friday, that Eve gave Adam the apple on a Friday thus causing the fall of man, and the day of the Great flood….You guessed it, another Friday.  The number 13 does not fair any better.  There were 13 at the Last Supper and 13 months in the pagan lunar calendar giving rise to the belief that the number was cursed by God."

 

"Fridays use to be reserved for public hangings, and did you know there were traditionally 13 steps on  the scaffolds?" Vin offered, his hand rubbing unconsciously at his neck. "Had an ancestor who was almost strung up, until he was saved by his six friends."

 

"Not to mention this team's normal luck…." Nathan trailed off, his voice laced with worry as others around the table nodded in agreement.

 

"You mean to tell me that we are going to let a silly, little superstition get in the way of taking this piece of slime off the street?"  Chris looked dumbfounded.

 

"Silly perhaps, Chris, but U.S. companies will lose up to $900 million in business due to paraskevidekatriaphobes who refuse to travel or go to work on Friday the 13th.  Studies have shown that 8 to 15 percent of Americans take into account the fact it is indeed Friday the 13th when planning their day."  Ezra rattled off the facts, then paused, "I wonder if we might use superstition to our favor in dealing with Cardona?"

 

"Leave it to Ez to look for an angle," Vin shook his head in amazement.  "JD, you look awful deep in thought."

 

"I was just thinking, maybe Friday the 13th's such a big thing because it doesn't happen that often…." JD worried his lower lip with his teeth as he gazed up toward the ceiling. "The calendar repeats itself exactly every 400 years, thanks to the distribution of leap years.  That is equal to 4,800 months, which means the 13th of the month comes around 4,800 times each cycle."

 

The men all turned to look at the young agent as he worked out the problem in his head.

 

"If we use mathematician B. H. Brown's formula it seems that the 13th day fall most often on a Friday, 688 times to be exact, with Monday being the next most frequent with 687 times.  So statistically it's more likely for the 13th to fall on a Friday than any other day in a month.  Shoot there is at least one every year and this year there are three, the next being in November."  JD smiled, apparently put totally at ease by his rational.

 

"JD, my boy, I think we need to plan a trip to Deadwood and visit the blackjack tables," Ezra smiled, thinking of the possibility of utilizing JD's ability with numbers.

 

"Ezra, counting cards is illegal," Chris reminded, shaking his head at the man’s tenacity. 

 

"Heck, Friday the 13th ain't all bad. Why on Friday, June 13, 1930 the first nudist colony opened in Bricket Wood, England.  Place called Spielplatz." Buck bounced his eyebrows and smiled.

 

"Why does it not surprise me that you would know that fact, Buck?!" Nathan laughed 

 

"So are we good to go for Friday?" Chris queried.

 

Heads around the table nodded their agreement.

 

"Heck, I always was rather partial to the number 13," Vin admitted.

 

"I'll bite, Brother Vin.  Why would that be?"

 

Vin's eyes twinkled, "Cause that's the number of donuts in a Baker's dozen."

**Author's Note:**

> *** Acknowledgment - A nod to an msnbc.com article by Alex Johnson which contained numerous Friday the 13th facts. Some of which were used in this story.


End file.
